


Making of a Guardian Deity

by noyabeans (snowdrops)



Series: writing with snowdrops (zine collection) [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:33:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26879755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowdrops/pseuds/noyabeans
Summary: That which shapes a guardian deity: fear, pain, and the scars they bear.
Relationships: Nishinoya Yuu & Karasuno Volleyball Club
Series: writing with snowdrops (zine collection) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1597471
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35





	Making of a Guardian Deity

**Author's Note:**

> **Happy birthday, Nishinoya Yuu ❤**  
>  Thank you for all the ways you've changed my life. 

The thing about being a libero is that you can never be scared. Neither of the ball — because the ball will come, no matter how many times you send it up — nor of pain.

_The libero is a position of fearlessness,_ Nishinoya’s middle school coach once said when Nishinoya went to him crying — though whether it was out of frustration from their loss or out of agony from the searing pain in his hip, Nishinoya doesn’t remember. _You throw yourself at the ball time and time again, knowing full well that it will hurt you._

Pain. That’s what volleyball is about, after all: a ball flying through the air at tens of kilometres per hour, headed for a stationary body, can only bring pain.

It hurts, every time the ball lands on arms covered in bruises that won’t have time to fade before new ones form.

It hurts, every time he lands hard on the ground in a last-ditch dive to save a ball, knowing the next time he gets up there will be a floor burn scraped along the side of his calf, red and unsightly and a nightmare to wash when the match ends.

Nishinoya has borne them all — sores, jammed fingers, abrasions, nosebleeds, chipped teeth (just the one time in middle school, when he received an awry serve with his face). In all the centimetres of his body, there is not one inch of unmarred skin.

But years of playing have taught him two things:

One, that it hurts more than any physical injury, to see a ball land on the ground in front of his eyes, to hear the whistle blow its shrill note, and feel all movement on the court come to a screeching halt, even as his body remains in futile motion.

Two, that no painkiller can ever dim the euphoria that comes with the satisfying slap of a ball against bare skin, the tingling it leaves behind, and the deafening roar of the crowd. The dismay on his opponents’ faces, the relief on his teammates’ — these are the things that push him past all the pain into diving one more time, one more time, _one more time_.

As the ground rushes up towards him, the ball flies back up into the air, and the game continues.

“Good job out there today,” Chikara says when they are changing out of their jerseys.

“They were a good fight.” Nishinoya grins as he stretches out his arms, inspecting them for the damage done during their latest match. Three on his left arm, two on the right. On his left hip, there’s the telltale bud of tenderness that appears right before blooming into a blue-black flower.

“It’ll be tough tomorrow, too,” Chikara says, tossing him an ice pack. Nishinoya catches it gratefully, the cold a welcome balm to his burning muscles.

“What’s there to worry about, you’ve got me!”

“I know.”

He is Nishinoya Yuu. They call him Karasuno’s guardian deity, when in truth he is but a boy with a body more bruised and battered than most. He is a libero.

**Author's Note:**

> My second piece for the [Haikyuu Symbolism/This Is Also Volleyball zine](https://twitter.com/HaikyuuSymbols)!
> 
> [twitter (rielavity)](https://twitter.com/rielavity) | [haikyuu writing journal](https://noyabeans.dreamwidth.org/)


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